ActivityTimeline User Guide

ActivityTimeline User Guidehttps://activitytimeline.comCopyright 2019 ActivityTimeline

Contents1.2.3.4.5.Getting Started .31.1Overview.31.2Logging In and Out.4Working with ActivityTimeline .52.1Header Panel .52.2Issues .52.3Assigning Tickets.62.4Issue Card .72.5Creating a Custom Event or Issue.72.6Creating a Booking (Reservation) .82.7Creating a Placeholder .92.8Creating a Milestone .102.9Logging Work .112.10Searching Issues .112.11Applying Issue Filters .122.12Grouping Issues .122.13Sorting Order .132.14Using Timeline Panel .132.15Un-Scheduling a Task.142.16Changing Task Color .14Plan view .153.1Dashboard Overview .153.2Timeline Panel .163.3Workload Indicator.163.4User Card .173.5Milestone Panel .18Work view.194.1My Dashboard Overview .194.2Issues Panel .194.3Charts.204.4My Schedule panel .204.5My Logged Hours panel .20Track view .225.1Timesheets Overview .221

6.7.8.9.5.2Timesheets Approval .225.3Timesheets Configuration Panel .23Report view .246.1Planning Reports .256.2Time Sheet Reports .266.3Tracking Reports .26Integration with External Calendars .277.1Integration with Outlook Calendar.277.2Integration with Google Calendar .277.3Integration with Apple iCal .28Additional Information .298.1Features and Benefits .298.2Server System Requirements .30ActivityTimeline Administration .312

1. Getting Started1.1OverviewActivity Timeline application for Atlassian Jira provides a visual resource planning and project trackingdashboard to schedule Jira tasks along with custom events; calculate workload, availability and utilization;generate timesheets and reports.It works with both Jira Server/Data Center and Jira Cloud installation options.It does not require any extra installations inside of Jira. ActivityTimeline is installable outside of Jira.Activity Timeline provides four modules for a full workflow: Plan. Work. Track. ReportPlan. This module of ActivityTimeline add-on allows to do resource/project andcapacity planning. Plan and manage teamwork, schedule events, vacations,bookings and tasks, calculate workload and availability.Work. This module provides an all-inclusive personal workspace for everydaywork: personal tasks and schedule, logging worked hours, see overall progress ofown timesheet and display required utilization on the worklog charts.Track. Timesheets module on Track view provides managers with a quick andeasy overview of logged time and ability to approve/export the timesheets.Report. ActivityTimeline add-on allows generating various Web and Excel reportsbased on workload, skills, availability, logged work hours and utilization.ActivityTimeline is intended to help managing service, consultancy and creative teams with a dynamicworking schedule, frequent changes requests and people shared between projects.3

1.2Logging In and OutTo access and log into ActivityTimeline, follow the steps given below.1. Open the browser and enter your specific link to ActivityTimeline application:2. Enter your user name or email in the Jira Username text entry box.3. Enter your password in the Jira Password text entry box.4. Click SIGN IN. The Dashboard of the Activity Timeline application will be displayed.Note: If you are using Google account with Jira then your Jira Administrator should configure Single Sign-On(SSO) between Jira and ActivityTimeline for a successful login.Note 2: Specify your Email address as username and API Token as password if you have Jira Cloud.To log out of the application, simply click on user avatar icon and then click on Logout menu:You will be logged out of the application.ActivityTimeline provides an ability to log in via Single Sign-On (SSO) with a single button click(if configured in Jira and ActivityTimeline - instructions here).4

2. Working with ActivityTimeline2.1Header PanelHeader Panel includes the icons to access the main modules and pages like PLAN/WORK/TRACK/REPORTviews, My Account, Configurations, Help, Quick Product Tour, Feedback, Synchronization with Jira etc.2.2IssuesJira issues are movable and resizable blue bars:5

2.3Assigning TicketsYou can easily assign tasks to a team member by drag’n’droping from a Left Panel.1. Drag’and’drop an issue to assign it to a person:Note that every issue/item can be dragged if start and end dates are configured in Jira and ActivityTimeline.Once you drag and drop an issue from Issues Panel to user’s timeline, or from one person to another, youare re-assigning the issue. The new assignee will be immediately updated in Jira.2. Move issue to change planned start date:The new assignee, start date and end date will be immediately updated in Jira.3. Resize issue to change planned end date:Resize by moving the left or right side of the issue. The new end date will be immediately updated in Jira.6

2.4Issue CardIssue Card displays the main information about Jira issue or any event. Issue Card can be opened by clickingon the Issue on a Dashboard or on a Left Panel. Issue Card includes the following information: Issue key,Ticket name, Status, Assignee name, Time spent, Start / End / Due Date. It can include 3 extra fields.The following operations can be performed on the Issue Card: 2.5Logging work; Changing Original and Remaining Estimate;Scheduling the ticket, changing Status and Color of the ticket;Creating a Custom Event or Issue1. Click on an empty cell or any timeline cell.The Create New Item dialog will be displayed.2. Select the type of the event. In the example, Day Off is selected.3. Enter the title for the event in the Title text entry box.4. Click Create. The event will be added.7

2.6Creating a Booking (Reservation)When there is some potential work and there are no Jira tasks in the system yet, you may reservesomeone’s time to work on a particular new prospect/potential work.1. Click on an empty cell or any timeline cell.The Create New Item dialog will be displayed.2. Click Booking.3. Enter the title for the booking in the Title text entry box. In the example here, Potential design work isentered.4. If you wish, select a project or just leave it as it is in the Project field.In the example here, General is selected.5. Specify whether it is possible to create the work for the whole team or a particular person by checkingor un-checking the box in the Create for everyone in this Team field.6. You can also specify the number of work hours per day in the Hours per Day field. By default it is 8hours but it can be changed to smaller or larger value.7. Click Create.8

2.7Creating a PlaceholderIf you have a Jira ticket but you are not ready to schedule it or assign it to a proper developer or technicianor a person who’s actually going to do the work, it is possible to create a Placeholder for the Jira task.1. Drag and drop the task using the Control key (Command key on Mac).The system will not schedule this task (DEMO-13). The task will be still assigned to the previous assignee.But the Placeholder will be scheduled for 4 hours on Tuesday:2. When you are ready to schedule a real Jira task, edit the Placeholder by clicking on it and pressing Openbutton.The Edit Item dialog will be displayed.3. In the Approval section, if the Replace Placeholder with actual Jira task is checked, the system willreplace placeholder with actual Jira task.4. Click Approve.9

Or click on checkbox icon on an issue and click Approve:The system will automatically replace the Placeholder with the actual Jira task.2.8Creating a Milestone1. To view the Milestone Panel, click on a flag iconon the toolbar of the right panel.The Jira tickets based on the due date will be displayed.To create a milestone, click on the required day/week/month cell.1. The Create New Item dialog will be displayed.2. Select Milestone option.3. Enter the title in the Title text entry box.4. Select the name of the project from the Project drop down list. General is set by default. Click Create.A milestone will be created.10

2.9Logging WorkTo log work, click on the ticket you worked on and click on Log work link. In the opened Time Trackingdialog specify the spent time and date to log your work hours. Spent time is displaying on a Dashboard andis calculated in your workload on Workload Indicator.Detailed documentation: Work Log2.10 Searching IssuesYou may filter down to a required Jira ticket by using search option.Search by issue key or keyword from the title by entering the text in the Search Issues text entry box. Itsupports multiple keywords, you may add multiple keywords separated by space.11

2.11 Applying Issue FiltersYou can apply filters on tickets in the left Issues Panel.The Filter by Assignee and Filter by Resolution fields are the default settings. You can change these filtersto reflect your work flow or for the whole team. Simply select the filter you want to apply. You may alsouse a combination of different filters.The results will be displaying under the panel. To apply the results on the Dashboard switch Apply thesefilters to Timeline Panel toggle.2.12 Grouping IssuesYou can group issues by different fields such as Person, Project, Priority, Status, Release, Sprint,Component, Parent Task, Issue Type, Epic and No grouping.12

2.13 Sorting OrderYou can change sorting order based on several options such as Project, Priority, Status, Release, Person,Issue Type, Issue Title, Issue Color, Rank, Due Date, Created Date and Last Updated Date. You can alsochange the order of sorting as ascending.2.14 Using Timeline PanelYou can navigate to Timeline Panel in two ways: Click on the header and the system would jump through the scopes to wider or narrow scope.There is also a navigation bar at the top to navigate from weeks, days or months.Timeline has a default view, but there is also a compact view if you want to get more space. You can selectthe checkbox for compact view and the system would refresh the screen and try to compactly the displayall the data. It shrinks the workload and the left panel which can be closed altogether and provides morespace for the timeline.You can manage the Jira tickets based on the number of hours worked on daily/weekly or monthly basis forthe particular project.13

2.15 Un-Scheduling a TaskYou can un-schedule a task in two methods.Method 11.2.3.4.Click on the task you wish to un-schedule.Press Schedule button.In the dialog, clear out the available dates such as Start and End.Press Change.Method 2Drag and drop the task to from the timeline to the UNSCHEDULE box in the left/bottom section. The taskwill be un-scheduled.2.16 Changing Task Color1. Click on any Jira task or custom event Issue Card will open:2. Click on small color box to change background color of a task.14

3. Plan view3.1Dashboard OverviewActivity Timeline’s planning dashboard consists of four important core components such as Issues Panel,Timeline Panel, Workload Indicator and Milestone Panel.This view allows to find, filter, group and sort Jira issues, schedule tasks for the particular person or a team.View the team schedule, add vacations, days off and reservations. Approve placeholders and bookings.Automatically calculate the workload/utilization and availability of the team.Log into Activity Timeline with a Jira account.The Activity Timeline Dashboard will be displayed. Drag’n’drop/move/resize issues (blue bars) to schedule them to specific people on the timeline;Timeline calendar per each person - Every row corresponds to one person of selected team; everycolumn is one working day of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Blue barsare Jira issues scheduled to specific days.Scheduled Jira issue gets planned start and end dates - Start/end dates can be mapped to Jira customfieldsIssues are positioned in calendar based on three things: issue assignee, issue planned start date andissue planned end date.Get visibility - View entire team on one screen during the whole working week/month or year.Keep an eye on all tasks the currently in progress.15